


Out of the Window and Into a Frying Pan

by BigGhost



Series: professors in love [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: First Meetings, Hank is just a worried dad, M/M, Markus is awkward and trying his best, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 21:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15058385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigGhost/pseuds/BigGhost
Summary: Markus and Connor have dinner with Hank for the first time, and Markus is off to a bad start.





	Out of the Window and Into a Frying Pan

Markus had been to a few “meet the parents” dates before.  Nothing particularly exciting, he supposed. He'd been threatened, denounced, asked for immediate marriage, and even snuck out through the bathroom window.

Those weren't really his proudest moments, admittedly.

But those times, when he was too scared to look his date’s parents in the eyes, didn't compare to the absolute terror he felt as Connor pulled up to his father's house.

The house was modest and simple, with a car parked haphazardly, half in the grass and half in the driveway.  He shook his leg as Connor parked a little more neatly, staring at the house as though it was its fault that he had agreed to do this.

“Are you okay, Markus?” Connor asked, breaking Markus’ intense focus.

“Huh?  Uh, y-yeah, yeah!  I'm… I'm fine.” Maybe that was more convincing than it'd sounded in Markus’ head.

Judging by Connor’s amused smile, it wasn't.  “Are you nervous? You shouldn't be. He's harmless.”  A pause. “Mostly,” he said as an afterthought. 

“Harmless, he says,” Markus mumbled sarcastically, to which Connor laughed.

Yeah, the loose cannon detective that had a decorated history of no mercy cases was “harmless.”  The first time Markus had heard about Hank Anderson, it'd been from his friend North, an officer in sex crimes.  He had been gushing to her over this very date, hoping that it would go better than his last experiences. He'd mentioned that Connor’s father was a cop in passing, and North almost choked on her drink.  “Wait wait wait, your little boy toy’s name is Connor right? Anderson?”

Markus nodded.

North laughed loudly and took a long sip of her drink.  “Oh shit, Markus. His dad is gonna kill you before you even get through the door.”

Looking back on it, Markus supposed he should have asked North more about Mr. Anderson, but she probably would have just laughed at him.  So he was essentially going into this situation blind, unprepared, and terrified.

Connor started making his way towards the door, and Markus let out a deep sigh before joining him.

Connor let them in, and Markus was mildly surprised at how well kept the house was.  He'd expected a bit more of a mess, considering the oddly parked car in the yard. Connor shed their coats and hung them in the closet while Markus wandered into the living room.

He saw the collection of old, vintage records on the table.  It was an impressive collection, especially since vinyls were so hard to find nowadays, much less ones that were functional.  There were photos of moments in Hank’s and Connor’s lives hanging on the walls and propped up on the tables.

Markus examined a particular picture that caught his eye, dangling delicately on the wall: three people, Connor, a middle aged man, and a little boy stood in the bright light of the sun.  It looked like they were at a beach, judging by the wind caught in their hair and the grey sand and blue waves of the background. They all smiled giant, brilliant smiles, as though they were mid-laughter.  Markus assumed the middle aged man was Hank; he looked so young and vibrant, and Markus had a hard time pinning the descriptions he’d heard of Hank in the past on the man in the photo.

Connor was considerably younger, but it was him, without a doubt.  He was a young man, maybe fifteen or so. The little boy was maybe around five or six years old, and his giant, open-mouthed smile told Markus that the day in the photo had been an amazing day.

He moved to explore more of the living room, but Markus stopped short in his tracks when he heard a low grumble, like a growl, and spotted a giant dog not but a few feet away.  The dog stalked towards him, eyes hard and stance tense. Markus felt the hair on his neck rise; that was no dog, it was a bear!

“Sumo, go lie down, baby boy,” Connor cooed as he nudged Sumo in the side with his knee.  Sumo turned his giant head to Connor as he passed, then back to Markus. His jaw dropped and his tongue lolled out with satisfaction at Connor’s acceptance of the stranger in the house, then he lumbered over and plopped down on the rug.

Markus sighed as he awkwardly debated following Connor into the kitchen or staying in the living room.  He finally settled and lowered himself onto the edge of the couch.

“Connor, that you?” a voice called as a man walked into the room.  Markus leapt from his seat almost as soon as his butt touched the couch.  An older man entered the room out of a dark bedroom in the hall. He was disheveled but not dirty, and looked about the way Markus imagined a hardened, headstrong detective would look.

He looked over to Markus and gave him a half smile that reminded Markus of cashiers trying to put on a happy face.  They each reached out for each other's hand to shake, and at the same time, they said:

“Hi, I'm Markus.”

“You must be Markus.”

They looked at each other in confusion, and Markus sighed a breath if relief when Hank chuckled.  “Good to meet you,” he said, “I’m Hank Anderson.” Markus nodded dumbly.

Markus followed Hank as they moved into the kitchen, where Connor was already working to get their dinner started.  Hank shrugged, “I'd cook for you myself, but I'm no cook.” He offered him a beer from the fridge.

Markus mumbled an, “It's okay,” and watched Connor give him a soft, reassuring smile.  The silence hung in the room, interrupted only by Connor’s cookware and Hank’s glass tapping the table as he set it down.

Hank nodded his head after taking a swig of his drink.  “So, Markus. How’d you meet Connor?”

Markus inhaled sharply at the memory of sneaking into Connor’s class and spying on him, them promptly embarrassing himself.  He looked at Connor in a desperate, silent cry for help, and felt the stab of betrayal when Connor looked at him and laughed, then turned away with a shaking head.

Markus wondered if maybe Hank had a window in his bathroom…

* * *

 

Amazingly, Hank didn’t kill Markus from across the table.  He stumbled through the story of how he’d met Connor, and how their awkward meeting had turned into a relationship.  Markus spent the majority of dinner awkwardly making conversation, answering questions wrong (he supposed? Or maybe Hank’s face was just permanently angry?), and praying that Connor would save him.

(He didn't.)

It was a disaster.

“What do you do, Markus?”

“I'm fine, thanks though.”

He'd almost yelled aloud when he'd said that.  He settled for screaming on the inside.

“Oh yeah, I know North.  Good officer.”

“Yeah.  She said you're a great cop for your age.”

Well that could have gone better.

“And yeah, he didn’t even know we were there.  Poor bastard.”

“Ha, yeah, that reminds me of the time Connor and I were having sex in the office, and—”

Markus wanted the ground to open up and eat him.  If Hank didn't hate Markus when they'd started, he certainly hated him now.

There was no sneaking out of windows or hiding in his car until it was over, but Markus did settle for sitting against the hood of the car outside.  He tapped at his phone while he miserably texted Simon about his misfortune.

**Markus [9:14 PM]:** he's going to dump me i just know it.

**Simon [9:15 PM]:** he's not going to dump you just because you're a dumbass.

**Simon [9:15 PM]:** he would have dumped you at the staff party if that were the case.

**Markus [9:17 PM]:** first of all.  no one told me that it was hunch punch.  second. I told his dad that we fucked in the office.

**Simon [9:18 PM]:** MARKUS

**Markus [9:18 PM]:** IT WAS AN ACCIDENT

**Simon [9:18 PM]:** im not picking you up after you climb out of the window this time.  stupid.

Figuring Simon had had enough of his stupidity, Markus pocketed his phone and sighed.  He hadn’t meant to tell Hank about the office thing, it had just kind of happened while he was telling a story.  He rubbed his head and sighed. This was a fucking disaster, and he hated the idea of Connor being angry with him.  He’d be mad at him too, if he were in Connor’s shoes.

“You’re looking a little like someone who’s trying not to run.”

Markus’ head shot up to see Hank standing just a few feet away, arms crossed and face slightly amused.  Markus sighed and looked back at the pavement.

“No need to hide it,” Hank said as he uncrossed his arms and moved to lean against the car next to Markus.  “It’s my job to see that look.”

Markus breathed out half of a laugh.  At least someone thought this was funny.  “Are you here to tell me you never want me to see Connor again?”  Out of the corner of his eye, Markus saw Hank look at him, then back down.  Markus swallowed the lump in his throat. “I understand if you don’t. I haven’t exactly proved myself to be a very eloquent or even competent boyfriend.”  He rubbed his hands together. “But, Mr. Anderson, I want you to know. I have never… ever felt for anyone else the way I do about Connor.” He thought about all the relationships he'd walked out on, on the ones that'd walked out on him, and the ones that never had a chance to start.  He thought about how they never sat right, and how each one didn't feel like “the one.” He'd thought that he would be stuck in a romantic purgatory, never feeling anything for anyone, living alone in his big, empty house, with only his own reflection to keep him company.

Then he met Connor.  Well, officially met him in the crisp air of the classroom where he’d miraculously snuck and hid for the entirety of Connor’s class before the man had called out his little ruse.  They had started dating after a night of pretending to watch a theater play as they focused on the warmth of each other’s hands.

When Markus loved Connor, it felt like the birds sang louder.  The sun shined brighter. His laugh was music and his smile, however few and far between Markus saw them, was brighter than any star.  He spoke with such thoughtful precision with a soul that was old, but his eyes wandered and wondered with a soul that was new. Connor strived for more in everything he did, and in everyone he met.  And he was relentless in his pursuit of knowledge and betterment.

Markus hoped he could be as great in Connor’s eyes someday.

Hank still didn’t say anything.  Markus wished he would at least yell at him, make a disgruntled noise, something.

But he did nothing.

“Please say something,” he begged quietly.

He heard Hank take in a deep breath, like he was mulling over the words he wanted to pick.  Just when he expected Hank to give up and tell him to fuck off on home, the old man sighed with a half smirk.  “Yeah, you really fucked up a lot in there.”

Markus almost wished he hadn’t asked Hank to speak.

“But,” he continued, and Markus perked up a little.  Hank looked at him, and for the first time that night, he felt like Hank wasn’t seeing him as a bumbling dumbass trying to impress his boyfriend’s dad.  “Anyone that works, and fails,  _ that  _ hard to look good in front of me for Connor’s sake?”  He gave a slow nod. “Maybe they’re not so bad for my boy after all.”

Markus let his words sink in.  As they did, Hank made his way back towards the house.  He looked back at Markus and gestured him over. “C’mon.  There’s still some time of this night left to prove you’re not completely unable to have a conversation.”

Markus breathed a laugh and pressed his lips together.  Hank didn’t hate him, he realized, and not only that, he was giving him a second chance to prove himself to be the man Connor deserved.

“Now, Connor tells me you’re a fan of the Detroit Gears?” Hank says as they enter the doorway, to which Markus readily agrees.  This time, there was no need for some bathroom escape window.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr as sugarbath!
> 
> wanna be even more embarrassed than markus? you can find me on my discord server (link on my tumblr!) and talk with me about these embarrassing men


End file.
